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Megan is a full-time working mama who cooks almost nightly with fresh, locally grown ingredients for her family. She has a local blog where she shares many of her recipes, a weekly meal plan, and some musings in general. You can find her at Stetted.com. Thanks, Megan!

When I was 15, I was fortunate enough to be able to visit Ireland through a student ambassador group. As one of the youngest of the group, it felt strange wandering around this country virtually on my own, yet it was also one of the most exhilarating trips I’ve ever taken, especially as some of my ancestors hail from the Emerald Isle and I felt a strong connection while I was there.

In Ireland we stayed with host families, toured Trinity College, snuck out to a pub, ate a fair share of lamb stew, kissed the Blarney Stone, and of course, came home with an exorbitant amount of Irish-themed souvenirs, from shamrock seeds to Guinness boxer shorts to a stuffed leprechaun. I vowed to return again soon.

Sadly, not only have I not returned, but my celebration of St. Patrick’s Day has also fallen by the wayside in the past few years, brought on by its conflict with SXSW, the day job, family life, and just plain forgetting. This year, I’ve promised to pay more homage to my roots and share that with my son, and the way I know to do that best is through food.

Most people associate corned beef and cabbage with St. Patrick’s Day, but most of us don’t have the luxury of time to properly prepare the dish. One food that is simple to prepare and honors Irish tradition is humble boxty.

A boxty is the Irish version of potato pancake. As potatoes were Ireland’s main crop, they had to come up with creative ways to serve it, much like American families attempting to work through the Thanksgiving leftovers. Other popular potato dishes include colcannan (mashed potato with greens) and champ (mashed potato with green onions). Boxty can also be made with mashed potato, but have the addition of grated raw potato to give it more substance than a traditional pancake.

There are many recipes and methods for boxty, but the one below is my favorite. If you prefer a more latke-like pancake, just use less milk. However, the extra milk results in a pancake that is a bit thinner and fluffier, and this adds to its versatility. We like to fill them with meat and cheese like crepes, or drizzle sweet syrup over the top. The many ways of serving help make them a hit with kids – you can set up a topping bar at the table and let them go at it.

While making the mashed potato does add time to the recipe, you can easily cook and mash your potato in advance and store in the fridge. For the liquid, I like to use a mixture of buttermilk and regular milk, so use whatever ratios you like. The addition of chives adds a festive sprinkling of Irish green to celebrate the day.

Boxty
2 potatoes of approximately equal size, to yield 1 ⅓ cup mashed potato and 1 cup grated potato
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoon fresh diced chives (optional)
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cup milk

Peel and dice one of the potatoes and get it in a pot of boiling water.
Meanwhile, set a colander over a bowl and grate the other potato into the colander. This will help the excess liquid drain out. Put the grated potato in a kitchen towel or cheesecloth and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Discard liquid and put the grated potato in the bowl.
When the boiling potatoes are easily pierced by a fork, remove from heat, drain, and mash. Add to grated potato.
Add flour, baking powder, chives (if using), salt, and milk. You should have a batter that resembles chunky pancake batter.
Cook in your preferred method for pancakes. Serve with meat, cheese, sauteed vegetables, applesauce, or pure maple syrup.

Posted by livemom on Thursday, March 17th, 2011 at 8:21 am | 1 Comment » You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.